The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 397,050 filed on Aug. 22, 1989 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,368 on Feb. 5, 1991. This invention pertains to the art of access controls. More particularly, the present invention relates to rotary gate devices which facilitate controlled passage between two separated areas.
The invention is particularly applicable to a turnstile for use in controlling and/or monitoring the passage of personnel between two distinct areas, such as at entrances and exits into and out of buildings or other facilities. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention can be readily adapted for use in other rotary gate environments such as revolving doors and the like.
As is well known, turnstiles comprise generally a cage-like structure including a vertically disposed pivot column having vertically aligned rows of barrier arms extending radially outwardly from the column. It is also known to provide a rotor control mechanism in order to selectively allow the rotation of the pivot column and hence regulate the ingress and egress of people between two distinct areas. Problems have been encountered by the conventional rotor control mechanisms in that they have not been particularly reliable and have not provided the degree of flexibility in operation to accommodate the various desired rotor operational modes.
More specifically, a particular difficulty with rotor control mechanisms has been the locking and unlocking means for the cam which is operatively secured to the pivot column in order to regulate the degree of rotation of the pivot column. Such means selectively enables the cam, and hence the pivot column, to rotate a desired amount and, controls the entry and egress of people between two distinct areas. The conventional rotor control locking and unlocking means have been complicated, expensive and usually were unable to cope with situations where pressure was exerted against the barrier means of the pivot column. Under those circumstances, the turnstile would not unlock and this made it difficult to try and move people efficiently and safely at the greatest speed. With everyone pushing, it is difficult for anyone to back up in order to disengage the locking mechanism so that the turnstile could be turned.
Another problem with conventional turnstiles has been the locking system for the barrier arms which are secured to the turnstile pivot column. Conventional constructions do not allow a barrier arm to be so rigidly attached to the pivot column as to prevent any play of the arms when someone attempts to pull a barrier arm out of the pivot column and yet at the same time allow the barrier arms to be selectively removed from the pivot column for purposes of replacement, repair or the like.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved apparatus which overcomes all of the above referenced problems and others and provides a new rotary gate control system and a turnstile construction which is simple in design, economical to manufacture, light in weight, and of considerable strength, as well as being reliable for a range of operational modes and readily adapted to a variety of applications.